Junior Certificate RE Syllabus

Junior Certificate RE Guidelines

Journal Titles 2010-11

J C R E Journal Titles 2012 – 13

Junior Cycle Religious Education (JCRE) may be taught from three points of departure: 1. Following the JCRE syllabus and students taking the examination 2. Following the JCRE syllabus and not taking the state examination 3. Junior Certificate Schools Programme.

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• Share The Good News p. 156 states, “All second-level schools, encouraging critical thinking across the Curriculum among adolescents and recognising the multi-faceted world they inhabit, should give significant time and space to support young people in developing the spiritual and moral dimension of their lives. Two hours of Religious Education, that is, three class periods, is the accepted minimum for all classes at second level, a time allocation that the Irish Catholic Bishops join in affirming as the least amount of time that can be considered appropriate. Anything less is clearly insufficient. These class periods should be taken by qualified religious educators, whether or not the class group is sitting a State certified Religious Education examination. (Share the Good News – National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland: Irish Episcopal Conference, 2010)

• Bishops’ Guidelines p.10 states “In non-examination classes religious education should be allocated a minimum of two hours per week. It is not acceptable, for any reason, that this requirement be reduced in schools where the education of Catholic students takes place. Boards of management and principals should do all in their power to prevent the erosion of this small number of hours on the timetable.” (Guidelines for the Faith Formation and Development of Catholic Students: The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 1999)
  

• The Model Agreement for community schools and designated colleges states: “The religious worship attended by any pupil at the school/college and the religious instruction given to any pupil shall be in accordance with the rites, practice and teaching of the religious denomination to which the pupil belongs. Religious instruction as aforesaid of the order of 2 hours shall be given to all pupils in the school (except those who are withdrawn from religious instruction in accordance with the provisions of sub-clause (i) of this clause) in each week during which the school is in session.”